Dynamically arming a safety mechanism on a delivery drone

ABSTRACT

A system and method for dynamically operating a drone safety system of a delivery drone. The method includes: receiving at least one terrain map; receiving a delivery request, wherein the delivery request includes a destination location and a delivery time; analyzing the received at least one terrain map and the delivery request to generate a navigation plan, wherein the navigation plan include a plurality of segments, wherein each of the plurality of segments include at least source coordinates, destination coordinates, an operation instruction to operate a drone safety system in case of failure of a delivery drone; and sending the navigation plan to the delivery drone for execution of the navigation plan at least in case of failure of the delivery drone.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/746,596 filed on Oct. 17, 2018. This application is also acontinuation-in-part (CIP) of:

-   -   a. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/247,034 filed on Jan. 14,        2019, now pending. The Ser. No. 16/247,034 application is a        continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/646,729        filed on Jul. 11, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,191,485, which        claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.        62/361,711 filed on Jul. 13, 2016. The Ser. No. 15/646,729        application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent        application Ser. No. 15/447,452 filed on Mar. 2, 2017, now U.S.        Pat. No. 10,274,949, which claims the benefit of U.S.        Provisional Application No. 62/326,787 filed on Apr. 24, 2016;        and    -   b. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/649,133 filed on Jul. 13,        2017, now pending; which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional        Application No. 62/361,505 filed on Jul. 13, 2016.

The contents of the above-referenced applications are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to unmanned aerial vehicles andparticularly to navigation termination modules of the same.

BACKGROUND

Unmanned vehicles (UVs), known colloquially as drones, are seeingincreased industry use as improvements in fields such as artificialintelligence, battery life, and computation are made. As an example,companies such as Amazon® are increasingly using UVs such as drones todeliver packages. As a result, some companies will likely begin toutilize hundreds or thousands of UVs at once to provide services.

Control over drones may be complicated, due in part to a need to balanceautonomous control with manual control. One particular use for drones infleet control of UVs simultaneously, where control becomes exponentiallymore complicated. Manual control of each and every drone may beundesirable due to, e.g., excessive labor costs, human error, and thelike.

Many solutions for automated navigation of drones utilize on-boardcomputations, thereby requiring more expensive hardware on-board eachdrone for performing computations. These costs are exacerbated whenmultiple drone (i.e., a fleet) are controlled. Further, the computationsneeded to successfully navigate to target locations often becomeincreasingly complex as a UV approaches the target. Specifically, as aUV approaches a target, travel by the UV requires more precise movementsto, e.g., arrive at the correct geographical coordinates, avoidnear-the-ground obstacles, land safely, and the like.

As a result of the difficulty in precisely navigating when approaching alanding site, existing drone solutions often face challenges arriving atparticular sub-locations of a landing location. For example, manyexisting UV solutions cannot successfully pilot the UV to, e.g., aparticular room or floor of a building. This inability to pilot toparticular sub-locations can result in meddling with the UV, therebyfrustrating its intended goal. As an example, when a drone delivers apackage to an apartment complex, the drone may land in a general zoneoutside of the complex, which leaves the drone vulnerable to theft by aperson other than the intended recipient.

Additionally, some existing solutions for landing drones require thelanding site to have a pre-known landing mat or other guide marker tosuccessfully land. Such solutions can face challenges when the guidemarker is obfuscated (e.g., if a visual guide marker is visually blockedor if signals from a guide marker are blocked or otherwise subject tointerference). Further, if the landing site does not have a suitableguide marker, the drone may be unable to successfully navigate to thelanding site.

Further, some existing solutions provide automated detection systemsutilized to avoid and navigate around obstacles. Such solutions maystill face challenges when obstacles are small or otherwise difficultfor sensors of the UV to detect.

Drones typically require significant infrastructure to implement atlarger scales (e.g., for a company). Thus, although drones and otherunmanned vehicles may provide significant advantages such as reducedcost and increased shipping speed, some third parties may be unable totake advantage of drones. However, offering complete access to UVs bythird parties decreases security of drone operations and can result inmalicious use of those drones.

In addition, due to the technology complication in controlling dronesand providing scalable infrastructure, regulatory authorities have beenslow to adopt these technologies for civilian use due to safety andsecurity concerns. One such concern is how drone malfunctions arehandled. Occurrence of such malfunctions whilst the drone is overcivilian population should especially be avoided.

While parachute systems can ensure a lesser impact of a falling drone,simple solutions often lack navigability and may therefore result in thedrone ending up in unintended places. For example, deploying a parachuteover civilian areas may not prevent a heavy drone from falling in placeswhere people may be.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide a method for increasingcivilian safety for drone usage.

SUMMARY

A summary of several example embodiments of the disclosure follows. Thissummary is provided for the convenience of the reader to provide a basicunderstanding of such embodiments and does not wholly define the breadthof the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of allcontemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key orcritical elements of all embodiments nor to delineate the scope of anyor all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one ormore embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later. For convenience, the term “someembodiments” or “certain embodiments” may be used herein to refer to asingle embodiment or multiple embodiments of the disclosure.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein include a method for dynamicallyoperating a drone safety system of a delivery drone. The methodcomprises: receiving at least one terrain map; receiving a deliveryrequest, wherein the delivery request includes a destination locationand a delivery time; analyzing the received at least one terrain map andthe delivery request to generate a navigation plan, wherein thenavigation plan include a plurality of segments, wherein each of theplurality of segments include at least source coordinates, destinationcoordinates, an operation instruction to operate a drone safety systemin case of failure of a delivery drone; and sending the navigation planto the delivery drone for execution of the navigation plan at least incase of failure of the delivery drone.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein also include a non-transitorycomputer readable medium having stored thereon causing a processingcircuitry to execute a process, the process comprising: receiving atleast one terrain map; receiving a delivery request, wherein thedelivery request includes a destination location and a delivery time;analyzing the received at least one terrain map and the delivery requestto generate a navigation plan, wherein the navigation plan include aplurality of segments, wherein each of the plurality of segments includeat least source coordinates, destination coordinates, an operationinstruction to operate a drone safety system in case of failure of adelivery drone; and sending the navigation plan to the delivery dronefor execution of the navigation plan at least in case of failure of thedelivery drone.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein also include a system fordynamically operating a drone safety system of a delivery drone. Thesystem comprises: a processing circuitry; and a memory, the memorycontaining instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry,configure the system to: receive at least one terrain map; receive adelivery request, wherein the delivery request includes a destinationlocation and a delivery time; analyze the received at least one terrainmap and the delivery request to generate a navigation plan, wherein thenavigation plan include a plurality of segments, wherein each of theplurality of segments include at least source coordinates, destinationcoordinates, an operation instruction to operate a drone safety systemin case of failure of a delivery drone; and send the navigation plan tothe delivery drone for execution of the navigation plan at least in caseof failure of the delivery drone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter disclosed herein is particularly pointed out anddistinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification.The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of thedisclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a schematic illustration of a delivery drone according to anembodiment.

FIG. 1B is a schematic illustration of a delivery drone coupled with anavigation termination module (NTM), implemented in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a navigation termination module(NTM) coupled with a delivery drone system implemented according to anembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a delivery drone control serverimplemented according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a control server controllingmultiple delivery drones over a network, implemented in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a delivery drone navigatingaccording to a flight plan received from a control server according toan embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a computerized method for arming and disarminga parachute of a delivery drone according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is important to note that the embodiments disclosed herein are onlyexamples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachingsherein. In general, statements made in the specification of the presentapplication do not necessarily limit any of the various claimedembodiments. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventivefeatures but not to others. In general, unless otherwise indicated,singular elements may be in plural and vice versa with no loss ofgenerality. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like parts throughseveral views.

The various example embodiments disclosed herein include techniques fordynamically arming and disarming safety deployment measures (such as aparachute) based on the current landscape that drone is flying over. Byway of example, when a drone malfunctions over a body of water, thedisclosed techniques would allow the drone to fall in a lake, ratherthan activate a parachute which could cause the drone to drift towards anearby residential area. In certain embodiments, other parameters, suchas time of the day or day of the month are considered when determiningwhether to disarm the drone.

The disclosed techniques would allow for increased civilian safety whenutilizing drone delivery systems, parachutes may be used to ensure thata heavy drone does not fall in places where people may be. However, notall civilian areas are identical; some may be densely populated, such ashighways, residential areas, and so on, while others, such as forests,parks, and lakes, are not. Further, population density may change as afunction of time of day, time of month, year, and so on. For example, aschool is populated during certain hours, and typically not at all onweekends. While parachute systems can ensure reduced impact of a fallingdrone, simple solutions often lack navigability and may therefore resultin the drone ending up in unintended places.

FIG. 1A is an example schematic illustration of a delivery drone 100according to an embodiment. The delivery drone 100 (also referred to asan unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)) includes a body 110, for housingtherein a controller (discussed in more detail with respect to FIG. 2),a navigation termination module (NTM) 200, and may be configured forcoupling with a payload.

The controller may be connected to a communication circuit, forcommunicating with a control server, such as control server 300, over anetwork (discussed in more detail in FIG. 4). The body 110 is coupledwith a plurality of rotors: a first rotor 122, a second rotor 124, athird rotor 126, and a fourth rotor 128.

Typically, one pair of rotors, for example the first rotor 122 and thethird rotor 126, will turn clockwise, while a second pair of rotors, forexample, the second rotor 14 and the fourth rotor 128, will turncounter-clockwise. Typically, the rotors have a fixed pitch, and height,yaw, pitch, and roll are adjusted by applying varying power to eachrotor as the situation requires. In some embodiments, the delivery drone100 may further include a pair of landing skids 132 and 134. In certainembodiments, the landing skids may be equipped with dampers, such asdamper 136. Dampers assist in shock absorption for a landing deliverydrone, allowing protection of a delivery drone's payload, and protectionof, for example, the controller.

FIG. 1B is an example schematic illustration of a delivery drone 100connected with an NTM 200, implemented according to an embodiment.Certain delivery drones may include a terminal for coupling externaldevices, such as sensors, cameras, payloads, and so on. The NTM 200 maybe physically connected with the delivery drone 100 through such aterminal, for example, and, in some embodiments, be further fastenedwith a latch 105 to the delivery drone's body 110. In certainembodiments, the NTM may be connected to a bus of the delivery drone tofurther receive signals and/or flight information from one or moresensors of the delivery drone. The NTM is configured to receive datafrom one or more inputs and to determine when to initiate a navigationtermination protocol, which includes cutting power to the UV'spropelling system and deploying a protection device, such as a parachute140.

FIG. 2 is an example schematic illustrating a navigation terminationmodule (NTM) 200 connected with a delivery drone 100 according toembodiment. A delivery drone 100 is described in more detail withrespect to FIG. 1A.

In this embodiment, the delivery drone 100 includes a controller 150configured to control the various functions of the delivery drone. Thecontroller 150 may include at least one processing element. In anembodiment, the processing element may be, or may be a component of, alarger processing unit implemented with one or more processors. The oneor more processors may be implemented with any combination ofgeneral-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmablelogic devices (PLDs), for example, a central processing unit (CPU),controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components,dedicated hardware, finite state machines, or any other suitableentities that can perform calculations or other manipulations ofinformation.

The processing element may be coupled via a bus to a memory. The memorymay include a memory portion that contains instructions that whenexecuted by the processing element performing the method described inmore detail herein. The memory may be further used as a working scratchpad for the processing element, a temporary storage, and for otherfunctions, as the case may be. The memory may be a volatile memory suchas, but not limited to random access memory (RAM), or non-volatilememory (NVM), such as, but not limited to, Flash memory.

The processing element and/or the memory may also includemachine-readable media for storing software. Software shall be construedbroadly to mean any type of instructions, whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise. Instructions may include code (e.g., in sourcecode format, binary code format, executable code format, or any othersuitable format of code). The instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the processing system to perform the variousfunctions described in further detail herein. The controller 150 istypically coupled with a positioning system 160, a power supply 170, anda propelling system 180.

A positioning system 160 may be, for example, a GPS module, which isoperative for determining GPS coordinates of the drone. A power supply170 may include energy storage, such as a rechargeable battery. Thepower supply 170 may include, in some embodiments, a photovoltaic arraycoupled with an energy storage device. A propelling system 180 isoperative for propelling the UV. The propelling system 180 may include,for example, one or more motors, an engine, and the like. In thisexemplary embodiment, the controller 150 is coupled with a power unit220 of an NTM 200. The power unit 220 includes a circuit breaker 225 forcutting power from the power supply 170 to the propelling system 180.

The power unit 220 may be further operative for supplying power to theNTM 200. The NTM controller 210 may include at least one processingelement, for example, a central processing unit (CPU). In an embodiment,the processing element may be, or be a component of, a larger processingunit implemented with one or more processors. The one or more processorsmay be implemented with any combination of general-purposemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs),field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or any othersuitable entities that can perform calculations or other manipulationsof information. The processing element may be coupled via a bus to amemory. The memory may include a memory portion that containsinstructions that when executed by the processing element performs themethod described in more detail herein. The memory may further be usedas a working scratch pad for the processing element, a temporarystorage, and for other functions, as the case may be. The memory may bea volatile memory such as, but not limited to, random access memory(RAM), or non-volatile memory (NVM), such as, but not limited to, Flashmemory. The processing element and/or the memory may also includemachine-readable media for storing software. Software shall be construedbroadly to mean any type of instructions, whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise. Instructions may include code (e.g., in sourcecode format, binary code format, executable code format, or any othersuitable format of code).

The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause theprocessing system to perform the various functions described in furtherdetail herein. The NTM 200 may further include a spatial sensor array230. The spatial sensor array 230 may include, in an embodiment, one ormore accelerometers. The spatial sensor array 230 may be used todetermine if the drone is operating normally. For example, the spatialarray may detect a sudden change in direction which is not according toan uploaded navigation plan, or detect a wobbling movement (for examplecause by a motor malfunction), both examples indicating that the droneis not operating within normal parameters.

The NTM 200 may further include a detector 240, such as a RADAR system,an optical sensor, or combinations thereof. The detector 240 may be usedto detect obstacles in the vicinity of the drone, such as trees,buildings, other drones, etc. An optical sensor may be used to generatean input for a computer vision detection system (not shown) which may beused to detect and identify obstacles in the drone's navigation path.The NTM 200 includes a communication circuit, such as a low powercommunication (LPC) circuit 250.

In an embodiment, the LPC 250 may further use an authentication system(not shown) for authenticating received instructions. In someembodiments, instructions may include a sequence, for example of bits,which is unique to one specific delivery drone. The receivedinstructions may be sent from an authorized node, such as a server oruser device, for example. The NTM 200 also includes a protectiondeployment system (PDS) 260. Upon initiating a navigation termination,the NTM controller 210 configures the circuit breaker 225 of the powerunit 220 to break the circuit between the power supply 170 and thepropelling system 180.

As the delivery drone may be a danger to itself and to other propertyand/or humans, the NTM controller 210 initiates the protectiondeployment system (PDS) 260. The PDS 260 includes, in an embodiment, aparachute capable of, for example, decreasing the descent rate of adelivery drone. In some embodiments, the PDS 260 may include one or moreairbags which absorb the energy of the drone upon impact. In anembodiment, the NTM controller 210 may configure the PDS 260 to be armedor disarmed. In a disarmed state the PDS 260 will not deploy uponnavigation termination. In some embodiments, the NTM 200 may beintegrated as part of the delivery drone 100, in such embodiments thecontroller 150 and the NTM controller 210 may be a single controllerunit.

FIG. 3 is an example block diagram of a delivery drone control server300 implemented according to an embodiment. The server 300 includes aprocessing circuitry 310 coupled to a memory 320, and a networkinterface controller (NIC) 330, and storage 340. In an embodiment, thecomponents of the control server 300 may be communicatively connectedvia a bus 305 (e.g., a PCIe bus).

The processing circuitry 310 may be realized as one or more hardwarelogic components and circuits. For example, and without limitation,illustrative types of hardware logic components that can be used includefield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs),system-on-a-chip systems (SOCs), general-purpose microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), and the like, or anyother hardware logic components that can perform calculations or othermanipulations of information.

The memory 320 may include a memory portion 322 that containsinstructions that when executed by the processing circuitry 310 performsthe method described in more detail herein. The memory 320 may befurther used as a working scratch pad for the processing circuitry 310,a temporary storage, and others, as the case may be. The memory 320 maybe a volatile memory such as, but not limited to random access memory(RAM), or non-volatile memory (NVM), such as, but not limited to, Flashmemory. Memory 320 may further include memory portions 324 containingnavigation instructions for one or more delivery drones, the navigationplans including a takeoff point (i.e. coordinates of a takeoff point)and delivery location (i.e. coordinates of a delivery location).

The NIC 330 is operative for connecting the delivery drone controlserver 300 to a network, over which the server 300 can communicate (i.e.send) instructions to one or more delivery drones, such as a deliverydrone 100 of FIG. 1A. In an embodiment, the control server 300 isconfigured to generate navigation plans for the delivery drone toexecute, the navigation plan including at least origin coordinates, anddestination coordinates.

The storage 340 may be used for the purpose of holding a copy of themethod executed in accordance with the disclosed technique. Theprocessing element 310 and/or the memory 320 may also includemachine-readable media for storing software. Software shall be construedbroadly to mean any type of instructions, whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise. Instructions may include code (e.g., in sourcecode format, binary code format, executable code format, or any othersuitable format of code). The instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the processing system to perform the variousfunctions described in further detail herein.

FIG. 4 is an example schematic illustration of a control server 300controlling a plurality of delivery drones over a network according toan embodiment. A control server 300 is communicatively coupled with anetwork 410. In an embodiment, the network 410 may be configured toprovide connectivity of various sorts, as may be necessary, including,but not limited to, wired and/or wireless connectivity, including, forexample, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), metro areanetwork (MAN), worldwide web (WWW), Internet, and any combinationthereof, as well as cellular connectivity.

The network 410 further provides wireless communication for a pluralityof delivery drones 100-1 through 100-N, where ‘N’ is an integer having avalue of ‘2’ or greater. The control server 300 may send over thenetwork 410 to each of the delivery drones 100 a navigation plan, andother instructions, as needed. For example, the control server 300 mayinstruct a drone 100 to release a package or payload, to abort anavigation plan, to arm or disarm a PDS, and the like. In someembodiments, the delivery drones 100 and the control server 300 mayinclude an authentication module to verify instructions received by adelivery drone 100 from the control server 300.

FIG. 5 is an example schematic illustration of a delivery dronenavigating according to a flight plan received from a control serveraccording to an embodiment. A delivery drone 100 is configured by acontrol server (e.g., control server 300 of FIG. 3) to take off from anorigin point 520 in a navigation plan comprising five segments: 500-A,500-B, 500-C, 500-D, and 500-E. A segment includes a first point (e.g.origin), a second point (e.g. destination), and optionally an elevationat which to fly in between these points.

For consecutive segments, the destination of a first segment is theorigin of a second segment. In an embodiment, the navigation of eachsegment may further include arming or disarming of the PDS of the drone(e.g., PDS 260). For example, the control server may configure thedelivery drone 100 to arm the PDS in segments 500-A, 500-B, and 500-E,and disarm the PDS for segments 500-C and 500-D. This may beadvantageous because of the terrain below each segment. In this example,segment 500-C is above trees 530. If the delivery drone 100 initiated aparachute deployment in case of malfunction, the drone 100 may drifttowards the residential area 540.

Therefore, it may be safer that the drone 100 be allowed to crashwithout the aid of a parachute into the trees 530, rather than riskdrifting into the residential area 540 where contact with people is muchmore likely. Likewise, segment 500-D is above an open space, whereas ifa parachute is deployed the delivery drone 100 may land in any directionthe wind may be blowing.

According to the disclosed embodiments, the control server may configurenavigation segments differently at different times. For example, whileit may not be acceptable to crash in a school on a weekday, during theweekend the school is unlikely to be populated and it may therefore besafer to crash above such a location, rather than drift with a parachuteinto the surrounding neighborhood. As another example, it may be saferto crash in an open stadium when an event has taken place, when thenavigation decision is made. In some embodiments, the control server mayconfigure the delivery drone 100 to disarm a part of the PDS, but notall of it. For example, the PDS may disarm a parachute, but retain anairbag. In other embodiments, segments such as segment B may be brokeninto sub-segments to distinguish between sub-segments where the PDSshould be armed or disarmed.

FIG. 6 is an example flowchart 600 of a computerized method fordynamically arming and disarming a PDS of a delivery drone according toan embodiment. The method may be performed by a control server, such asthe control server 300.

At S610, at least one terrain map is received. The terrain map definesthe terrain in a certain location (e.g., a state) in which the deliverydrone is configured to fly. The received terrain map shows natural andman-made features (structures) and designates prohibited flight zones inlocations, such as airports, power plants, military bases, stadiums, andso on. In an embodiment, the terrain map further includes zoning areas,such that each coordinate on the terrain map corresponds to a certainzone. A zone may be residential, commercial, and the like. In someembodiments, the terrain map includes coordinates corresponding tobodies of water (lakes, rivers, etc.), natural areas such as forests,agricultural areas, and the like. The control server may be configuredsuch that zones and/or areas are associated with arming or disarming aPDS.

At S620, a delivery request to deliver a payload by the drone to adestination is received. The delivery request includes destinationcoordinates and optionally delivery time (day and time of the day). Thecoordinates can be transferred to a positioning system of the deliverydrone.

At an optional S625, a plurality of environmental parameters may bereceived from external sources (not shown). The environmental parametersmay include weather (received from weather services), event information(from public databases), and the like. The event information may includedate and time of school closures, holiday schedules, public events(e.g., parades, games, etc.).

At S630, the received terrain map(s), delivery request(s), andoptionally the environmental parameters are analyzed to generate anavigation plan. In an embodiment, the navigation plan includes aplurality of segments, where each segment may include an origin anddestination. The segment may further include an instruction to arm (ordisarm) the PDS of the delivery drone, or a certain subsystem of thePDS. For example, an instruction may include to arm the parachute orairbag of the PDS.

The analysis of the terrain map may determine which areas are civilianpopulated and which are not; civilian areas that may be populated attimes; areas that strictly prohibited for flights, and so on. Todetermine the navigation plan, the information derived from the terrainmap is correlated with the requested delivery time and optionallyenvironmental parameters. For example, if a stadium is vacant and awindy forecast is predicted during a requested delivery time, a segmentinclude the navigation plan would disarm the PDS at this locationallowing the drone to crash on the stadium in case of failure.

In certain embodiments, a navigation segment may be identified which canbe split into a plurality of subsegments, so that the navigation segmentincludes a first subsegment in which the PDS is armed, and a secondsubsegment in which the PDS is disarmed.

At S640, the navigation plan is transmitted to a delivery drone. In anembodiment, the navigation plan including the segments may be displayedon a display of a user operating, for example, the control server. Asegment where the PDS is armed may appear in a first color, whereas asegment where the PDS is disarmed may appear in a second color distinctfrom the first.

In certain embodiments, the user may be able to provide instructions tothe control server to override the arming or disarming instructions forone or more segments. In some embodiments, the control server maydisplay in real time, based on telemetry received from the drone theposition of the drone on a map, including displaying the navigationsegments.

The disclosed embodiments have been discussed with reference to aspecific example of a delivery drone, however, it should be apparentthat any type of unmanned aerial vehicle may benefit from the teachingsherein.

The various embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as hardware,firmware, software, or any combination thereof. Moreover, the softwareis preferably implemented as an application program tangibly embodied ona program storage unit or computer readable medium consisting of parts,or of certain devices and/or a combination of devices. The applicationprogram may be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising anysuitable architecture. Preferably, the machine is implemented on acomputer platform having hardware such as one or more central processingunits (“CPUs”), a memory, and input/output interfaces. The computerplatform may also include an operating system and microinstruction code.The various processes and functions described herein may be either partof the microinstruction code or part of the application program, or anycombination thereof, which may be executed by a CPU, whether or not sucha computer or processor is explicitly shown. In addition, various otherperipheral units may be connected to the computer platform such as anadditional data storage unit and a printing unit. Furthermore, anon-transitory computer readable medium is any computer readable mediumexcept for a transitory propagating signal.

It should be understood that any reference to an element herein using adesignation such as “first,” “second,” and so forth does not generallylimit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, thesedesignations are generally used herein as a convenient method ofdistinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element.Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that onlytwo elements may be employed there or that the first element mustprecede the second element in some manner. Also, unless statedotherwise, a set of elements comprises one or more elements.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” followed by a listing ofitems means that any of the listed items can be utilized individually,or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be utilized.For example, if a system is described as including “at least one of A,B, and C,” the system can include A alone; B alone; C alone; 2A; 2B; 2C;3A; A and B in combination; B and C in combination; A and C incombination; A, B, and C in combination; 2A and C in combination; A, 3B,and 2C in combination; and the like.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principlesof the disclosed embodiment and the concepts contributed by the inventorto furthering the art, and are to be construed as being withoutlimitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, andembodiments of the disclosed embodiments, as well as specific examplesthereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functionalequivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalentsinclude both currently known equivalents as well as equivalentsdeveloped in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform thesame function, regardless of structure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically operating a drone safetysystem of a delivery drone, comprising: receiving at least one terrainmap; receiving a delivery request, wherein the delivery request includesa destination location and a delivery time; analyzing the received atleast one terrain map and the delivery request to generate a navigationplan, wherein the navigation plan includes a plurality of segments,wherein each of the plurality of segments includes at least sourcecoordinates, destination coordinates, an operation instruction tooperate a drone safety system in case of failure of a delivery drone;and sending the navigation plan to the delivery drone for execution ofthe navigation plan at least in case of failure of the delivery drone.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving environmentalparameters, wherein the environmental parameters include at leastweather information and events information.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: correlating terrain information from the at leastone map with the requested delivery time and environmental parameters togenerate the navigation plan.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein asegment of the plurality of segments is split into a first subsegmentand a second subsegment, wherein the operation instruction is differentfor the first subsegment and the second subsegment.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the operation instruction is any one of: arm and disarmthe drone safety system.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the operationinstructions further includes determining a specific element of theprotection deployment system to operate.
 7. The method of claim 4,wherein an element of the protection deployment system further includesany of: an airbag which when inflated provide protection to at least aportion of the drone, and a parachute.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereina segment of the plurality of segments includes different operationinstructions at different delivery times.
 9. A non-transitory computerreadable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing aprocessing circuitry to execute a process, the process comprising:receiving at least one terrain map; receiving a delivery request,wherein the delivery request includes a destination location and adelivery time; analyzing the received at least one terrain map and thedelivery request to generate a navigation plan, wherein the navigationplan include a plurality of segments, wherein each of the plurality ofsegments include at least source coordinates, destination coordinates,an operation instruction to operate a drone safety system in case offailure of a delivery drone; and sending the navigation plan to thedelivery drone for execution of the navigation plan at least in case offailure of the delivery drone.
 10. A system for dynamically operating adrone safety system of a delivery drone, comprising: a processingcircuitry; and a memory, the memory containing instructions that, whenexecuted by the processing circuitry, configure the system to: receiveat least one terrain map; receive a delivery request, wherein thedelivery request includes a destination location and a delivery time;analyze the received at least one terrain map and the delivery requestto generate a navigation plan, wherein the navigation plan include aplurality of segments, wherein each of the plurality of segments includeat least source coordinates, destination coordinates, an operationinstruction to operate a drone safety system in case of failure of adelivery drone; and send the navigation plan to the delivery drone forexecution of the navigation plan at least in case of failure of thedelivery drone.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the system isfurther configured to: receive environmental parameters, wherein theenvironmental parameters include at least weather information and eventsinformation.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the system is furtherconfigured to: correlate terrain information from the at least one mapwith the requested delivery time and environmental parameters togenerate the navigation plan.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein asegment of the plurality of segments is split into a first subsegmentand a second subsegment, wherein the operation instruction is differentfor the first subsegment and the second subsegment.
 14. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the operation instruction is any one of: arm anddisarm the drone safety system.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein theoperation instructions further includes determining a specific elementof the protection deployment system to operate.
 16. The system of claim13, wherein an element of the protection deployment system furtherincludes any of: an airbag which when inflated provide protection to atleast a portion of the drone, and a parachute.
 17. The system of claim10, wherein a segment of the plurality of segments includes differentoperation instructions at different delivery times.